"Your money is his money!"
"Exactly. I don't know what he's so jealous about." Zhou said, holding a spatula. "You're also the ones who get paid every day. Don't count on Chunxiao when you buy things in the future. Buy things yourself and spend your own money."
"I think our mother only cares about her daughter. Her son is worthless to her. She's afraid that we'll take advantage of Chunxiao. Don't worry, we're aware of the benefits we've received."
"It's good to know." Zhou smiled. "I'm just worried that if you get used to it and take it for granted, you and your sister will become estranged. I don't want to see that day."
"Mom, if I gave it to my brother and sister-in-law, it wouldn't count as theirs." Chun Xiao shrugged. "I bought a lot of pears at the market today, and I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to finish them all by myself."
"How much did you buy?"
Chunxiao smiled and said nothing.
"How much did she buy?" Zhou asked Yan Dashan again.
"Just over 20 or 20 kilograms!"
Zhou's heart ached instantly. "It's only 20 pounds. When will you be as good as your sister?" Zhou turned to Chunxiao and said, "You girl, you spend money recklessly. 20 pounds must cost hundreds of coins. I find I can't stay with you forever, otherwise I will not be able to bear it."
"Oh, mom, the pot is burnt. Hurry up and scoop it up a few times." Chunxiao said and ran away, not wanting to listen to her mother's nagging.
A few people were eating when Yan Bingfa came over.
"Is it done?" Zhou asked him.
"It's been buried. I was in a hurry to get back and didn't stay for dinner." Yan Bingfa looked at Chunxiao and the others. "How's it going? Did it work out?"
"I accepted it, but time is tight, so I'll only give you 8 days." It seems his father has been worried about this matter.
Zhou went to add more rice for Yan Bingfa.
Yan Bingfa thought for a moment, "Now that the backyard is built, how many of these earthen kilns can I build?"
Chunxiao thought for a moment and said, "At most 10. I need someone to help look after them all, otherwise I can't handle it all by myself." It looked like she would have to ask her mother for help. Fortunately, they could make a bonfire in the backyard so she wouldn't have to sit there doing nothing.
"Then the charcoal will have to burn for five days, and the wood can be cut in one day."
"Dad, that depends on the weather. It will only work if it's sunny all the time." Daha reminded.
"I asked the village master today, and he said he couldn't predict the weather in the near future, but it will definitely be sunny in the next two days."
Everyone who was eating was happy, "That's great, at least there is great hope."
Yan Bingfa took the rice handed to him by Zhou and looked at Chunxiao again, "Have you bought the axe?"
Chunxiao nodded.
"Okay, I'll borrow someone else's axe for two more days. Today, the whole family is going up the mountain to chop wood. We must hurry and get everything ready. We can't chop too much wood all the time, otherwise the land will be completely chopped down. Tomorrow, Chunxiao and the child's mother will be home to trim the wood and dry it out. By tomorrow, the land will be almost dry. It can be considered a blessing from God."
The whole family obeyed Yan Bangsheng's order without hesitation. After dinner, they went to the village to meet up with their two sisters-in-law and go up the mountain.
Chunxiao only realized once she reached the mountain that the wood was even wetter than she'd imagined. The family dispersed, and the men were left with the lumbering. Now armed with four axes and machetes, they felled trees much faster. Though they toiled in the chill, their hearts burned with passion.
Perhaps because of the fine weather, I ran into other people on the mountain today. They worked tirelessly all afternoon and gained quite a bit.
Everyone consciously wanted to get more, so we didn't go down the mountain until it was completely dark.
Today was the first time they lit a lamp and cooked, so Chunxiao and Zhou stayed at their eldest brother's house for dinner.
"Mom, is my steamer ready?" A few days have passed.
"I've been busy lately and forgot about this." Yan Bingfa then remembered the steamer. "Wait for me, I'll be back soon." After saying that, he lit a clay lantern and left. He didn't have time during the day, so he could only get it back in the dark.
"Mom, my eldest brother said there are several families in our village who specialize in selling vegetables. We don't grow many varieties of vegetables at home, so when we're not busy, we can go to other families to buy some different ones. We don't want to eat the same things every day anymore, and we don't have any pickled vegetables at home."
"You're so busy with work, and you're still thinking about eating. I'm impressed," Zhou said, feeling completely helpless with Chunxiao. "Okay!" she sighed, "I'll take it back for you when I'm done."
"Aunt, I also want to live with you like grandma." Yan Qi suddenly ran over.
Chunxiao laughed out loud when he heard this.
The other two also ran over, "Aunt, Mom said we can go over and help tomorrow."
"You all need to go over there tomorrow and help Auntie dry the wood like we did last time. When Grandpa brings the steamer back, Auntie will make you some steamed buns."
Before dinner, Yan Bingfa took back her steamer and decided to steam buns for lunch tomorrow.
With no charcoal burning for the past two days, they returned home and devoted themselves to making clothes in their rooms. She had already made two sets of underwear and two sets of trousers, and when she saw that she had enough material, she made some for Zhou. Zhou initially didn't want any, telling her to keep them for herself later, saying the fine cotton was too expensive. Chunxiao, of course, didn't listen to her, and they each made their own things, not going to bed until around nine or ten o'clock.
The next day, Chunxiao and Zhou didn't go up the mountain. Instead, they woke up early and went to the other side of the slope to haul wood. Some of the wood had been carried back the day before, but most of it had been pushed down from that side. Together, they carried the load home, one load at a time. As the sun rose, the younger children arrived. Shuwen and Shufeng, being older, also ran over to help.
There were still occasional noises coming from the other side; the people who had come up the mountain were probably rolling the wood down. They had dragged all the wood from yesterday to the open space. The axes had been taken away, so the mother and daughter had to use their machetes to sort it out. They had already covered a large area with wood all morning. Now that the wood was wet, Chunxiao couldn't tell how heavy it was, but it must have weighed two or three hundred pounds if dried in the sun. At noon, Zhou really started steaming buns. The dough had been mixed that morning and had been waking up all morning.
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